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16 January 2026 / Phil Murrin
Issue: 8145 / Categories: Features , Profession , Risk management , Property , Landlord&tenant
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Mind the (registration) gap!

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The land registration gap leads to delays & claims, writes Phil Murrin. How can practitioners minimise the risks?
  • The Land Registry’s latest strategy paper recognises that processes are slow and complex, but there is no quick cure.
  • Against this background, practitioners are seeing claims involving registration gap problems.
  • This article advises how firms can understand the extent of their registration gap profile, and address that potential exposure accordingly.

On 5 November 2025, HM Land Registry issued its Strategy 2025+ report, setting out its vision for the next 10 years. This was issued in the context of the troubling expansion we have seen in recent years in relation to the registration gap—the time between the application to register and the registration itself. With reports (including a Homemove study in March 2025) indicating that in complex cases, parties are seeing a delay of up to two years, the release of the report is timely.

However, the report recognises that for many, processes are ‘slow and unnecessarily complex’. It also

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Bellevue Law—Lianne Craig

Bellevue Law—Lianne Craig

Workplace law firm expands commercial disputes team with senior consultant hire

EIP—Rob Barker

EIP—Rob Barker

IP firm promotes patent attorney to partner

Muckle LLP—Ryan Butler

Muckle LLP—Ryan Butler

Banking and restructuring team bolstered by insolvency specialist

NEWS
The Supreme Court has delivered a decisive ruling on termination under the JCT Design & Build form. Writing in NLJ this week, Andrew Singer KC and Jonathan Ward, of Kings Chambers, analyse Providence Building Services v Hexagon Housing Association [2026] UKSC 1, which restores the first-instance decision and curbs contractors’ termination rights for repeated late payment
Secondments, disciplinary procedures and appeal chaos all feature in a quartet of recent rulings. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Smith, barrister and emeritus professor of employment law at UEA, examines how established principles are being tested in modern disputes
The AI revolution is no longer a distant murmur—it’s at the client’s desk. Writing in NLJ this week, Peter Ambrose, CEO of The Partnership and Legalito, warns that the ‘AI chickens’ have ‘come home to roost’, transforming not just legal practice but the lawyer–client relationship itself
A High Court ruling involving the Longleat estate has exposed the fault line between modern family building and historic trust drafting. Writing in NLJ this week, Charlotte Coyle, director and family law expert at Freeths, examines Cator v Thynn [2026] EWHC 209 (Ch), where trustees sought approval to modernise trusts that retain pre-1970 definitions of ‘child’, ‘grandchild’ and ‘issue’
Fresh proposals to criminalise ‘nudification’ apps, prioritise cyberflashing and non-consensual intimate images, and even ban under-16s from social media have reignited debate over whether the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA 2023) is fit for purpose. Writing in NLJ this week, Alexander Brown, head of technology, media and telecommunications, and Alexandra Webster, managing associate, Simmons & Simmons, caution against reactive law-making that could undermine the Act’s ‘risk-based and outcomes-focused’ design
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